Renters scoot across border in Tijuana

Published: June 19, 2008 at 11:39 PM

TIJUANA, Mexico, June 19 (UPI) -- An enterprising Mexican couple have begun renting scooters in Tijuana to people who want to beat the long lines at the U.S. border crossing.

International Car Rental, owned by Annette and Cesar Macias, charges $10 for a scooter, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The renter gets instructions on using the scooter to get ahead of the long line of cars at the border and on where to turn it in on the U.S. side.

Lines for pedestrians are also long.

There is one catch. A spokesman for the California Division of Motor Vehicles said that anyone using a scooter in the state is required to have a motorcycle license and renters without one could face a ticket if they are pulled over.

Annette Macias contends that Mexican citizens do not need a license, calling it a "gray area," the report said.

Similar businesses renting bicycles sprang up after the 2001 terrorist attacks when U.S. Customs started allowing bicyclists to go to the head of the vehicle line. That loophole was closed in 2006 because too many people were showing up with bikes that lacked seats or working chains.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
Man claiming to be a killer arrested (5 min)
Horse poop excluded from scooping law (6 min)
Bra unrolls into putting mat (20 min)
Intellectually disabled need health ed (21 min)
NASA readies WISE for December launch (22 min)
'Too realistic' riot exercise called off (38 min)
Mucosal immune mechanism identified (41 min)
fark
The coolest photo of Devils Tower you've seen since your routine training flight went missing in...
Find yourself recently single and with no clue how to proceed? You are in luck. Come on out to the...
Remember when New London took those homes and the Supreme Court said it was OK because they had...
The deep-sea crab that eats trees....who knew you can grow trees at the bottom of the ocean
Photoshop these masks
New Jersey judge allows quadriplegic man to buy guns. "He plans to mount the gun on his wheelchair...